Apple retail mulling Brazil store as Canadian expansion continues

Apple is said to be weighing its options in opening a flagship store in Brazil, while the company continues to expand across Canada with a new mall location in Ontario.

In an interview on Thursday, an official Brazilian Apple reseller said the Cupertino, Calif. company is thinking about (machine translation) debuting an official Apple Store in the world's fifth most populated country, according to website G1.

Germano Grings, vice president of Brazil's largest Apple reseller Herval, said that he is sure that Apple is interested in opening their own shop in Brazil, which would add to the 31 existing official "premium" resellers spread across the country.

"They will not open where we are," Grings said of possibility of a future Apple Store in Brazil. He goes on to say that Apple usually opens only one or two flagship stores in important capitals, however Grings fails to estimate what effect an official location would have on his company's business.

The initial investment in opening a licensed Apple retail store is high, and Grings estimates that Herval spent between $1 million and $5 million for each of its 19 stores. Apple holds the premium retail outlets to a high standard, and owners have little control over terms of operation.

"Today, there are Apple employees who make over our stores," Grings said. "[It] works like a religion, a bible. The [Apple premium resellers outlet] is a copy of a U.S. Apple store, you can't do anything about of it."

Grings warns that entering the Brazilian market is a difficult undertaking, however he believes that iDevices will one day become as popular in South America as they are in countries like the U.S.

"I poke a lot [of fun] and even joked that if they need a partner, I'm here and open up for them," Grings said. "Imagine a store like 5th Avenue in New York, on Avenida Paulista [São Paulo]? How wonderful would it be?"

Apple Premium Resselers (APR) are held to a high standard and look similar to official Apple Stores | Source: Reuters

In addition to a possible Brazil debut, news broke that Canada's newest Apple Store will be located in Ontario, according to Apple retail blog ifoAppleStore.com.

The store is planned to open in London, Ontario's Masonville Place mall, and is fifty miles away from the Conestoga Mall Apple Store in Waterloo.

Real estate sources say the company is ready take over the nearly square 6.176 square-foot space with a 71-foot facade that the bankrupt Eddie Bauer will vacate this week.

As further confirmation, city officials are said to be reviewing an unnamed $3 million construction project within the mall that sports the iconic Apple logo.

Come to the don mills mall already. There's a huge book store that went away and it's one of the highest end malls in Canada. Apple would not only do well there, but would bring A LOT of business to the mall.

Come to the don mills mall already. There's a huge book store that went away and it's one of the highest end malls in Canada. Apple would not only do well there, but would bring A LOT of business to the mall.

I'm surprised they're not. Maybe its too close to the Fairview store. Apple could double the number of stores in Canada easily. What is there, 9 stores across ontario. With 6 in the Toronto area. The closet one to London is Waterloo (just down the street from RIM - and Waterloo loves RIM) which is an hour away. Masonville is located in a very affluent area and close to the University. It will do quite well.

There are two resellers in London which have stuck with Apple though thick and thin. They've been around for 20-25 years. I feel sorry for them. I actually suggested to them that they band together and open a store in Masonville. Too late.

Come to the don mills mall already. There's a huge book store that went away and it's one of the highest end malls in Canada. Apple would not only do well there, but would bring A LOT of business to the mall.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stourque

Ha! You're right. It is right next to it. They actually might do better with the increased traffic. Until Apple starts selling TV's. Then they'll be history.

Sony Store has been closed for a while.

A huge 2 store Forever 21 is being constructed next door to this future Apple! (Sony is one of the spaces, they are using).

Tell me again which country Apple will see a greater return on investment. Canada or Mexico?

I'm betting that Per Capita speaks very loudly.

Not necessarily, as you pointed out Mexico City alone has a massive population. The GDP-per-city for Mexico City is probably compelling enough for at least one Apple Store.

The challenge of developing nations is not just income per capita. It has to do with permits, leases, operations, and so on. Just look at Apple in China... If China didn't have 1 billion people, a major manufacturing base, Hong Kong as a critical shipping centre, and English as the default second language for all non-Mandarin international relationships, and if Apple wasn't invested there for over 10 years already, you wouldn't see them open Retail Stores there. A very good case can be made for Apple Stores in India.

The fact of the matter is the sheer chaos of doing business in developing countries. If you think capitalism has been bastardised in the Western world, the developing world has taken it to a whole new level. Look at the Apple Store kerfuffles in China ~ it's a microcosm of all kinds of things you go through in the developing world ~ bribery, corruption, crowd control, unexpected demand, high demand, no demand, scalping, permits, leases, local, state, federal government, security and crime control, staffing, language, training, wages, etc. Don't forget piracy, forgery, imitation... I mean, entire Apple Stores cloned... Not just one, several all operating I'm sure to the knowledge of many, many government "officials".

As ifoapplestore notes in the numbering of stores, when they open a store in a country they usually don't just do one. They have a plan on how to maximise their presence there. At this stage, if one were to think of "going big into Mexico", most of us would feel tentative, including but not just GDP/GNI per capita.

In many cases Apple resellers and especially with iPhone, telcos are their best bet of broad reach without getting into too much nitty gritty stuff in each country. Remember when Apple Stores are set up Apple doesn't immediately close down their Apple Resellers in the country... Yes tensions can increase but not only does Apple have to manage its Stores it has to continue to manage Reseller and Telco relationships.

Also, the Apple business ideology leaves little room for a lot of bribery involved to "speed things up" and "smooth things out" in many developing countries.

In many of these countries, if you ever get pulled over for speeding, running the red light, or simply driving late at night (supposedly they are trying to catch drunk and drug-influenced drivers)... Be prepared to slip a few fiddy notes into the cop's official summons book, which he will position at a suitable angle for you to discretely do so, while pretending to chastise you and write you a ticket.

And this is just pocket money for the cops ~ imagine companies coming in with millions or billions of dollars of investment.

A huge 2 store Forever 21 is being constructed next door to this future Apple! (Sony is one of the spaces, they are using).

A few days before Christmas I desperately needed a mini-DP to DVI adaptor. So off to my local Apple Store in the CBD. Drove past it looking for parking, it opened in 15 minutes and about 20 people were already lining up. (On Black Friday sales day it was really hectic, iPhone 4S launch, lines going around few blocks). This time when I drove by it was, as I mention, a few days before Christmas.

Anyway, to cut a story short I found street parking a few streets over, in front of a Sony Centre. Looked quite dead. And just the layout of the store as well... So... different.

Poor Sony. Then again, they brought this on themselves, one way or another.

A few days before Christmas I desperately needed a mini-DP to DVI adaptor. So off to my local Apple Store in the CBD. Drove past it looking for parking, it opened in 15 minutes and about 20 people were already lining up. (On Black Friday sales day it was really hectic, iPhone 4S launch, lines going around few blocks). This time when I drove by it was, as I mention, a few days before Christmas.

Anyway, to cut a story short I found street parking a few streets over, in front of a Sony Centre. Looked quite dead. And just the layout of the store as well... So... different.

Poor Sony. Then again, they brought this on themselves, one way or another.

This is called payback if you believe in Karma. Do you know how many lives the Japanese killed during the WW2 when they attacked China, especially in Nanking? And with the current high yen, Japanese automakers are making less cars in local factories and start moving production overseas. China would not be stupid enough to let yuan go that high.